


Star Wars: Genesis

by x_Mori_x



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Spin-Off
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Mori_x/pseuds/x_Mori_x
Summary: After a strange transmission is heard across the galaxy nearly a decade after the fall of the Jedi Order, the Galactic Empire launches a galaxy-wide investigation into the secret message's meaning. Jona, an Imperial bioengineer, learns that her father left her a recording of the transmission and, with her lifelong friend, sets out to discover the galaxy's secrets by waging war on Imperial censorship and taking matters into their own hands.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Through the window, a lone starship could be seen drifting before the myriad of stars and moons looming in space. The ship’s burnished, obsidian paneling glowed white at the edges, the light growing brighter and brighter as the craft came closer into view. The window rose with the rest of the hangar door as the crowds of technicians and astronomers throughout the Imperial-controlled Mamis Observatory, named for the cratered moon they were stationed on, rushed out into the hangar bay hurriedly in anticipation, though the air of intimidation and subservience about them commanded there still be silence and some sense of professionalism from them all. Out from the ship’s bay door descended a line of white-donned stormtroopers followed by their leader, draped in muted silks, who began creeping toward the hangar door without a word.  
“Officer Aykman,” a man still in his lab coat whispered more to himself than to his colleague. 

“They know about the transmission!” a young man called to the older researcher before him who was desperately gesturing for him to quiet down.  
“Hush boy, who do you suppose told them? Now, all that can be done is for us to answer her sincerely and to not give an opinion of it. Understood?”  
“That would be good advice, if it weren’t for the peculiarity of this situation, wouldn’t you say?” The conversation between the men ceased at once as the door out of the rather empty control room suddenly surged with Imperials.  
“Officer,” the elder of the men observed as Officer Aykman, accompanied by two armed stormtroopers, slowly stepped into the room. From behind her, a boy around 20 standard years old dressed in a white Imperial uniform appeared before them carrying a datapad which he then presented to her.  
“Ma’am, the diagnostics are complete. All communication towers are still fully operational, but no more broadcasts have aired since this morning.” The young courier clipped the datapad to his belt and then risked a forlorn glance back at the other men before exiting the room.  
Officer Aykman seemed pleased. Her skeletal figure and smooth, pale skin gave an impression of both agedness and youth, and the thin lips peeking out from below the black tinted helmet concealing most of her head whispered soft but articulate words, “I’d expected more from your division, doctor, but I suppose there’s no helping it. Now, if you would.”  
“I-I… officer, I assure you-“  
“Enough.”  
Without another word, the old man approached her, his head hung so that his face was shielded from the view of his partner.  
“Please, not him too! We heard the transmission, we can decrypt it if you just gave us more time-“  
The officer didn’t seem to notice the young man’s pleas; instead, the eyeless visor of her helmet remained facing the old man who now stood before her. His lips were beginning to quiver, but his resolve did not waver and he calmly kneeled before her. She reached out with a bony hand towards his head, and with an unseen power began to probe his mind. The man began to cry, then laugh, then growl. His face sampled emotion after emotion with no apparent end in sight.  
“Show me the transmission.”  
“No, father!” cried the other man.  
Officer Aykman pressed on until the old researcher finally grew silent, prompting her to lower her hand at last. The young man helped his father off the ground and continued to call out to him, but his eyes would not meet his son’s gaze and instead he began to wander aimlessly, tasting his own tongue as if he was suddenly very thirsty or had forgotten how to use it.  
“Ma’am?” the monotonous voice of one of the troopers finally spoke.  
“Yes, it’s the same one we’ve heard before,” said Officer Aykman, “but there’s little of it these fools understand. There are more of them, on Ociar. We’ll pay them our next visit.”  
“Ma’am.”  
The old man’s son fell to the floor. The officer’s hand was now on him, and without warning he began to contort and scream in agony.  
“Myles! Myles get help! HELP!”  
But no help came. Instead, the young courier from before stood in the hall outside the control room’s door, sobbing quietly through labored breathing, until at last he had had enough of the screams and switched the door shut.


	2. Chapter 2

A stream of cooing water cascaded off a stony cliff on the planet Okówa, the plashing of the creek sounding in tandem with the distant chirps of balabirds. Downstream, the towering trees stood motionless, save for a few loose branches crashing downwards past the waxy leaves and onto the ground.   
The falling began to quicken. Over and over: a crunch, and then a stamp once the twigs reached the dirt below. The leaves of the tree in question rustled up and down until finally the commotion ceased.   
Out from the tree, an earthy figure jumped to the ground on top of the branch bounty they had gathered. Dressed in weather-beaten garments, a protective scarf around the face, a dark visor above the forehead, and a headband holding back numerous black, twisted braids, the sketchy character sheathed the machete she had been using into a pouch that hung against her belly. The woman quickly bent down and packed a few of the branches into a satchel on her hip, then lowered the scarf wrapped around her head to reveal a young, feminine face beneath. She stared down at the final branch she now held in her hand.  
Without hesitation, the girl teared off a twig and began to chew on it ill-manneredly. Whether she enjoyed it or not was hard to tell, but she swallowed her snack nonetheless.   
The sound of leaves suddenly rustling and birds flapping caught her off guard, causing her to cease for just a moment.   
Then, after giving an annoyed grunt, she tossed another twig between her teeth and began to walk off towards the waterfall behind her.  
Once she approached the short cascade, she began to scale its cliff. Digging her dirty fingers into the nooks of the stone, she carefully ascended until finally she got hold of the top.   
As she hooked her foot along the edge and began to roll onto the cliff’s surface, a sudden ringing began to hum beneath her. Recognizing the tone, she reached towards the back of her belt to retrieve a gray, rectangular communicator before standing up and continuing her walk. She stared down at the small rectangle on its face, noticing the liquid-crystal display screen had a message. 

Hey Jona, let me know when you’ve gotten those scans.

You can send them to my transmitter and I’ll upload them myself.

“Why can’t he just call me to tell me this stuff?” the woman, Jona, asked herself as she began to shimmy against a narrow path along another tall cliff, trying not to get the moisture of the spongey moss growing off the wall of stone on her hands. 

Do you want to come over to watch that holovid I found?

Jona trudged her way through the knee-high water streaming through a narrow canyon, squinting as she stared upwards at an entrance to a cavern she planned to climb up to.

“Working. Besides, the Imperials are waiting on that report you have to finish,” she spoke clearly into the end of her communicator. She watched as her words turned to text on the screen, then strapped the grey box back on her belt. 

It’s okay. Forget about it. 

Now that her only company was the sound of dripping water echoing through the cavern and faint rays of light peeping through cracks of rock, Jona lowered her night vision visor over her eyes and kicked around some nearby rubble until she found what she was looking for. The young wanderer then carefully lifted a 3-meter-long metal beam and crashed it into the sand beneath the ledge she stood upon. Without a second thought, she ran forward holding the beam with both hands and vaulted onto a rock formation across from her. 

Convergence is in five minutes.

Jona exited through an opening leading out of the cave and out onto a precipice overlooking the tangled jungle below. Beneath her, a vast assortment of rainforest trees towered over an endless series of rivers and hillsides, all shrouded in a mysterious mist coating the canopies and lofty escarpments. Above her, the sun stood tall in the sky with a small moon gradually transiting it.   
To the west, another dark orb slowly crept towards the sun, a dark shadow drifting underneath as it drew closer and closer to the star.   
Squeaaaal.  
Jona looked away from the spectacle in the sky and saw behind her a hefty, red lotuk fitting the neck of a bushy little squizzle between its fangs. The smaller creature continued to cry and kicked its hind legs at its assailant’s shoulder, but to no avail. Jona stared in bewilderment as she watched the pathetic animal desperately trying to muster the strength to break free from the literal jaws of death.   
She quickly patted across her pelvis, taking short glimpses up at the fight to make sure she wasn’t too late. Finally, she reached into one of her satchels and pulled out a small, spiraled rod that began to whir once she activated it. Stretching her hand outwards, she positioned the whimsical device in the direction of the scuffle. She paused, making sure she was satisfied with the angle. Now was her one shot. Then,   
FLASH.  
A pulse of blue light flared across the scene. Confused but undeterred, the lotuk gave its furry prey one last shake before it was satisfied and ran off with its meal.   
Once he had vanished into the nearby brush, Jona followed the cord of the device in her hand to a viewscreen she had in one of her pants’ pockets. Pushing a button at the top, she was now able to see a sharp image of the animals had been saved to the device. Then, she pulled out a small strip of paper and after dipping it into a small pool of blood left by the squizzle, she inserted the paper into a sliding tray in the viewscreen.   
“I’m sending you a sample. I’ve never seen a lotuk attack something so big,” Jona spoke into her communicator, “I’ll do more research later, but for now I’ll focus on getting you those scans. Make sure you upload that blood sample for the Empire, it may be some sort of epidemic.”  
Her message received no reply.   
Turning back to face the edge of the precipice, Jona replaced the viewscreen and communicator in her hands with a scanner she kept in one of her pouches. The large moon was now carefully wedging itself between the sun and the smaller satellite, causing the graph and radar displays on the handheld scanner’s screen to begin charting data.   
Once the celestial bodies had finally merged, a blanket of darkness cloaked Jona’s surroundings. Caught off guard, she crouched down and tried to wait for the moment to pass.   
Behind her, the beating wings of some sort of bats flapped past her as they hurried out in to what they must have assumed was the night sky.   
As quickly as it had gone, sunlight began to reemerge back into the sky as both moons began to pass into their penumbras.   
Jona stood and pointed her device in the direction of the bats.   
The pairs of dark wings seemed to care little about the illusion they had fallen for and continued to flap towards the horizon. Together.  
Once they were out of sight, Jona tucked her scanner back where she had found them, then paused as she watched the sun finally come back into full view.  
“Noon”, she finally spoke after escaping her trance.


	3. Chapter 3

Stamping through the crunchy grasses of the rainforest’s undergrowth, Jona trekked on until finally she had reached her destination. Above her, a large, silver saucer grew out of one of the hefty trees. Jona neared the peculiar building and began to ascend a worn ladder sprouting out of the ground up to the structure’s interior.  
Once inside, Jona took off her shoes and her other trinkets, leaving them on the floor of a cozy, dimly-lit entryway before stepping out into the adjoining hall.   
“Joni?” a disembodied voice called.  
“Me, grandma.”  
“Mid-meal’s ready, grab some utensils.”  
Jona slipped into an orange and gray kitchen down the hall and, unsure of what to get, grabbed an assortment of utensils from a drawer. Before leaving, she pressed a button and watched as a small stream of water showered down from the ceiling out of a dispenser, jettisoning down with acute precision onto a small potted succulent resting on the kitchen island.   
Continuing down the hall, Jona arrived at a living area with furniture, green carpeting, and an array of plants placed in pots and planters where the sunlight coming from the windowed plaster wall opposite her could reach their many leaves. Jona walked down the few stairs that led into the lowered dining area and sat at the table where a plump, harmless little woman, her grandmother, was seated in front of grilled taaralus steaks and steamed vegetables.   
“I’m not quite hungry,” Jona said as she placed a fork and spoon on the table.  
“Were you eating sticks again? Why put those things in your mouth when I work so hard to cook?” her grandmother said with a grin.  
“It’s natural. And it was Mama who showed me which plants to eat. I honor what I am taught.”  
After a heavy sigh, her grandmother grabbed a nearby plate and began to fill it with the steaming food.   
“You always enjoyed learning, my girl. But you do need meat. How’s about I finally teach you to hunt? I am not your mother, but our traditions mandate it be the grandmother in her place. You are already a woman, and gods know I’m getting too old. I’m so round and wrinkled now, I think that taaralus was giving me eyes,” she said handing the plate to her granddaughter.  
“Really? I’d love to bring some of my own game to the next festival; it would make talking to Elder Nubaba more tolerable if I got to brag about it.”  
“Too true!” her grandmother laughed between mouthfuls of meat, “nothing would make me prouder. The tribe doesn’t meet nearly as often as I’d like, but it will give us time to train you; let’s begin next month. Rather you learn it from me than any of those outsiders. All that they know is deception, or worse, massacre. No one remembers how to meet their prey head on. Take those Imperials you work for, for instance.”  
“Again, with this?”  
“Never mind, never mind. Well, since we’re talking about the others, I have a favor to ask.”  
After rising from her chair, the gentle old woman disappeared up the stairs at the end of the hall then returned cradling a lifeless, doll-like robot no longer than her forearm.   
“Your father built this droid, didn’t he?” she asked as she handed the pear-shaped machine to Jona.  
“Yeah, yeah he did….”  
“I found him while looking for durite screws in the workroom. I think he was meant for you. Why don’t you take him to the village, get him fixed up.”  
Jona flashed her a look of disapproval.   
“I know, not your thing. But maybe you’ll have fun. At the very least, we could sell it.”  
“I don’t think anyone in the village could fix this,” Jona replied, “But, I think I have an idea.”   
Jona stared down at the face of the T4-R3 droid in her hands, its mouthpiece silent and its round eye-lights unlit. Meanwhile, confusion shone in her own eyes and her breathing was becoming a bit labored. For a moment, droid and girl did not break eye contact.  
“Jona, baby. It’s time.”  
Jona, though hesitant, nodded at last.


	4. Chapter 4

A lone research facility sat motionless amid the yellow grasses and boggy waters of a valley marsh, hiding in the shade of a massive, mushroom-shaped tree. Jona trekked through the valley’s paths with her T4 strapped to her back until finally she approached the facility’s bay door.   
Knock knock.  
No answer.   
Jona stepped back and examined the building for any sign of life, but all that she could see were rotating satellite dishes and spinning meteorological devices.   
After digging through a pocket in her satchel, Jona pulled out a small card and inserted it into a slot in the door’s control panel. The bay door unfolded like an aperture and revealed a dark hall leading to another room inside.   
“Hello?” Jona called as she quietly tiptoed down the hall.   
The faint sound of human crying echoed down the hall, seemingly coming from the room up ahead. Unfazed, Jona entered a large, dim workshop bay full of computer equipment and display screens that glowed a bright, light-blue hanging on the walls.   
The crying ceased, followed by a short sniffle. Then, a young man peered up from behind a nearby table, much to Jona’s surprise.  
“Woah, Jona, why are you here?” the flustered man asked.   
“… Were you crying, Myles?”  
Jona could see that his cheeks were puffy and dark circles were forming against his pale skin.  
“No, nah, just- well anyways, did you need something? I got those eclipse scans already. Oh, do you want to know what they were for?”   
“I don’t know much about your job, Myles, and I think it’d make working together easier if it stayed that way. But since you mentioned it, I was hoping you could do me a favor too. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me repair this before you leave for your next assignment?” Jona asked as she unstrapped her droid and laid him on the table between them.   
“Okay. Is he broken or something?”  
“No, he’s just shut down. There’s a restraining bolt and I don’t have access; he isn’t designated to me. I think your dad may have given the bolt to my father. Do you recognize it?”  
Myles turned the droid over and found the little black knob she was referring to.  
“Yeah, I’ve seen this kind of bolt, definitely reminds me of my dad. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the memory isn’t flushed.”  
After ducking down and grabbing a tool from beneath the table, Myles reemerged and began to tinker with the droid’s metal leech.  
“Do you have some thoughts on why your dad put a bolt on this?”  
“I try not to have any thoughts about him,” Jona replied.  
Myles nodded, then flicked his tool up, the droid’s bolt flinging off and onto the table.   
“There you go,” Myles said as he handed her the little metal creature.   
“I guess, here goes nothing.” Jona held her finger up to the droid’s activation button and as curiosity had finally gotten the better of her, she firmly pressed it down.  
His little metal eyes flickered on, emanating a bright yellow light.   
“Looks like it worked,” Jona noted.   
“He-,” a boyish voice began to utter, “Hello?”  
“Cute,” Myles observed as he stared in amazement.  
“Scanning,” T4 announced as he turned his head to meet Jona’s gaze.   
“Master Jona located. Hello, master. Would you please set me down?”  
The bewildered Jona quickly complied and lowered the little droid so that his stout, silver legs now touched the table.  
“Greetings. I am Teefor Arthree.”  
“I haven’t gotten it to work since I was a child,” Jona remarked.  
Myles gave her grin.   
“Master Jona, now that I have been reactivated, I have something to tell you! Play message?”  
“Message?” Myles asked.  
“I’m guessing it’s from my dad,” Jona said as she regained her focus.  
“Huh. Mind if I listen?”  
“Doesn’t matter. Go ahead, Teefor. Play.”  
Jona clenched her teeth behind closed lips and felt her heart begin to race. Both she and Myles stared in agonizing anticipation.  
SQUEEEEAAAAAeeeEEEEeEeEeeeEEE.  
The two let out a cry of pain at the terrible noise, Jona pressing her ears shut while Myles tore at T4’s vocabulator until he pulled it from its socket.  
Finally, the noise ceased.  
“Translating message,” T4’s disembodied mouth spoke.  
“What the hell was that?” a belligerent Jona asked.  
“Not sure. Teefor, what are you doing now?”, Myles asked as he fit the vocabulator back to where it belonged.  
No response.  
“You broke him didn’t you?!”  
“I did not, just give him a second!”  
After some hesitation, T4 finally spoke up, “Message needs decoding. Please allow up to two standard hours for translation.”  
Myles and Jona sighed.  
“Well what are we going to do for two hours?” Jona asked.  
Myles smiled excitedly, while Jona, already aware of his request, begrudgingly accepted.


	5. Chapter 5

A small, blue hologram of a Pantoran woman danced a ballet between Myles and Jona who had been sitting on the floor watching for about 2 standard hours. Jona cradled the preoccupied T4 in her lap while she was busy staring daggers into the rather pleased boy sitting across from her.   
After one last spin, the woman in the holovid bowed and the holoprojector switched off.  
“Wasn’t that nice?” Myles stated more so than asked.  
“Whatever,” Jona responded as Myles stood to go unplug the projector.  
“Come on Teefor,” said Jona as she rubbed a finger against the cool, metal buttons on his back.  
“Almost done,” his automated voice assured her.  
“Yeah, give him a second,” Myles chimed in.  
At last, T4 hovered out of Jona’s lap using the repulsorlifts in his feet and landed where the holoprojector had been.   
“The Deliverance approaches… coordinates at the sanctuary… find the Apologists. End of transmission, Master.”   
“What’s that mean?” Jona was disappointed to hear the words leave her mouth.   
“Your father saved that message?” Myles asked in shock.  
“Yes?”  
“How can that be?”  
“What is it?”  
“I think I know what that was. When I was a kid, my dad was charged with treason. Yours too, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Well about the time they were caught looking into something, there was some sort of broadcast being aired galaxywide for anybody to hear. Nobody knew what it meant, but whatever it was, the Empire wasn’t too happy about it.”  
“You think Teefor’s message is that transmission?”  
“Looks that way, your dad even taught him how to unscramble it. Jona, that transmission’s back. An officer who was studying under the Imperial Inquisitors came to the base I was being trained at a couple months ago, and she attacked the two men who heard it.”  
“And?”  
“I knew those men. I don’t know what they were up to, but it’s only a matter of time before I get caught in the investigation too. Then, once they unearth what they found on our dads, you’ll be next.”  
“So why is digging into the thing that got them in trouble going to help me?”  
“The Empire is still trying to figure out what that transmission is; the only thing that officer learned was that the traitors had friends on Ociar.”  
“Ociar? My dad knew someone from there.”  
“Good, that’s good. So, if we tell that to the Empire, and if we can find any of our dads’ old research, I’m sure we can get out of this with our heads still on. Deal?”  
Although it was still on, Jona’s head was definitely spinning.   
“There’s no opposing the Empire, I can guarantee you that much. There really is no other option, Jona.”  
“I know, you’re right. Let’s get our stories straight.”   
The sound of rhythmic footsteps began to echo from the hall.   
“That’s not good,” Jona whispered.  
“Threat detected. Returning home,” T4 said as he activated his repulsorlifts once again and jettisoned off towards a door behind them.  
“Wait T4, wait!” Jona called after him, but he had already disappeared further into the facility.  
The steps sounded in time with the marching of the stormtrooper unit flooding into the workshop. The swell of armed soldiers began to surround the exits while some broke off to examine different drawers and devices throughout the room.   
“Hey, yeah I think we found something-“ Myles tried to explain before a trooper cut him off.  
“An illegal transmission was just aired in this facility, where’s the droid at?” the male soldier asked once he’d approached them.  
“Sir, we didn’t know, we were just about to report to the Okówa base,” Myles said.  
“Then you shouldn’t have messed with the droid. Was it the girl’s?” the stormtrooper asked without really looking at her. Myles and Jona didn’t reply.   
“Search the rest of the building,” the stormtrooper commanded.  
Most of the soldiers scurried into the adjacent rooms as ordered, leaving just him and one other trooper by the main door, “you both are hereby charged with treason and insubordination. Penalty is execution by blaster.”  
“What?” Jona cried.  
“Tell you what,” the trooper spoke again, now facing Myles, “kid, I think I can get you out of this. Believe me, I got into a few messes myself when I first started my training.”  
Both stormtroopers laughed at this before he went on, “So, I’m going to let you do what I always did when I needed to lay blame.” The trooper handed Myles his blaster.  
“Are you joking?”  
“Look kid, I was told someone was sticking their nose in Imperial business and that I had to set an example; those were my orders, so here’s yours. Consider this is a favor. I’ll tell the boys at base you proved your allegiance and save myself a deal of paperwork, okay? Only one of you needs the blame, and I’d reckon they’d let the researcher kid go before our new star technician.”   
“What are you saying?”  
The stormtrooper gestured towards Jona then pointed his fingers at his head as he pretended to fire an imaginary blaster.   
“It aien’t tough, trust me. Now, cadet, I’m ordering you-“   
Both stormtroopers were blasted in the chest with two successive pulses of blue light.   
“Myles, what did you do?” Jona asked in terror.  
The troopers fell limply to the floor.   
“I set it to stun.” Myles’ hands were now shaking, but he soon tightened his grip on the blaster. “They wanted me to kill you…”  
“You should have obeyed!”  
“They wanted me to kill you!” Myles repeated, obviously not paying attention to her.  
“What happened to not opposing? Forget it, it’s time to get out of here.”  
Although still upset, Myles nodded in agreement. “Teefor probably headed to the garage, let’s follow,” he said as he led Jona out the way the droid had run off to.


End file.
